Noosa's largest car yard opens its doors

NOOSA'S largest car yard has opened its glass doors this week after an investment of $8million by Noosa Auto Group.

The 12,000 sq m facility has been constructed at the former Bunnings site on Eumundi-Noosa Rd at Noosaville, with showrooms for Noosa Mazda and Noosa Hyundai and a substantial area for the used car area of the business.

After three years of planning and construction using local builders and contractors, the site should hold between 400 and 500 vehicles according to General Manager of Noosa Auto Group, Chris Symes.

The new facilities are a huge boon to the Mazda and Hyundai brands in particular, as the previous site on Lionel Donovan Dr suffered from a shortage of space to display cars for sale, and parking for customers.

The Mazda dealership has been at this smaller site since 2005, with Hyundai coming on board in 2007.

"The Mazda and Hyundai brands have grown so much during that period, so the new showrooms will be able to show the full range of stock to customers," Mr Symes said. "Up to now we've not had the facilities to give customers the service they expect."

Noosa Auto Group is part of the Pickerings Auto Group, meaning a different corporate entity is now heading the Noosaville Mazda and Hyundai dealerships. Mr Symes said the new facilities are of great benefit to locals, as not only were local tradespeople employed to help build it, staff numbers have increased from 11 to 32 with many of these being locals too.

"We don't want to lose the local service touch, and made sure we put together what's important to us long before we moved to the new building," he said. "We wanted to keep that local community feeling, and it's been incredible how many people have talked to me, excited about the new site."

Community does seem to be a key factor in Noosa Auto Group's vision and values statement called "Where Every 1 Counts". This includes commitment, opportunity, teamwork and motivation when dealing with everyone from customers to staff, and from business partners to the local community.

Mr Symes said he's been humbled by the work done by the team to get the new site operational. "I've been amazed at the work people have put in and everyone is now so excited. We can't wait to show the community what we can do."

The GM also said they needed to justify the new facilities by selling plenty of cars, and in the old fashioned way said they'd be willing to do deals.